Supernatural forces conspire to end a fragile peace between the independent Dakota nation and the United States in this convoluted fable from Old West fantasist Rand (Dadgum Martians Invade the Lucky Nickel Saloon!
). Pregnant teenage prostitute Etta Dooley shoots the sheriff who killed her boyfriend, but the dead sheriff sits up and sobs like a woeful zombie. Etta screams all the way into the arms of Joseph Thorne, a Dakota horse thief, and together they flee from a swelling host of dead people and animals as an ancient spirit called Old Enemy collects minions in body-snatcher fashion. Conveniently enough, Joseph’s body hosts Watcher, a good-guy ectoplasmic parasite who faces off against Old Enemy. While warfare wages on the spiritual plane, Joseph and Etta fight to stop the spread of apocalyptic doom. Two final chapters of summary exposition fail to balance out the baffling prism of multiple perspectives, leaving readers confused from start to finish. (May)
